


Chase and Seek

by shinylostcause



Category: Free!, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, But no Hogwarts AU, Harry Potter Universe, M/M, Mahoutokoro School of Magic, Quidditch, Rating May Change, a tiny bit of angst, basically dorks falling in love while playing quidditch and learning charms, relationship, there's still a magic school dw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-05-02
Packaged: 2018-03-14 11:25:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3408854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinylostcause/pseuds/shinylostcause
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mahoutokoro School of Magic was a place Haruka never wanted to be.<br/>At least before a boy named Matsuoka Rin breaks into his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Letter

There is one thing about the wind that will never stop to amaze Haruka.

  
Right in the middle of the game, when the muffled voices of the audience turn rasp with howling or cheering over every single throw, passing and scoring of the players, there is this...well, something.

Something in the cold air high above the other players seems to seep into Haru's drenched and soiled uniform dangling lazily in the wind; into his skin, right into his mind.  
  
The cold isn't frightening, rather it's a comforting gesture. Because Haru knows there is this _moment_ right now, something he could almost touch, almost think of a name for this feeling, like it's at the tip of his tongue but slips away at the last second.

It's right before the audience and the players even realize that the tables are about to turn, the score might change into something promising, a slight hope of winning the game, like a spark of energy in the pale sky.

  
It feels like falling, Haru thinks.  
  
A light sweep in his stomach, pressing up into his lungs, making his head a little dizzy. He grabs onto his broomstick tighter, gulping the harsh air down.  
  
Right before Oyama heads towards the opponent's scoring area, the quaffle in her right hand already ready for throwing it into the highest loop, there is this moment.  
  
The wind feels like slowing the world down for everything. Freezing everyone but him. The sky looks grayish blue and it's cold up above the quidditch field, but Haruka doesn't mind.  
  
He doesn't mind because what does cold air matter when this buzzing feeling in his chest is louder than everything else, louder than the audience, the cheering from friends and schoolmates, louder than the howling wind itself?

  
Louder than everything except for a rough yell right below him.

  
"-ru! Haru!“  
  
Haru blinks, his eyes focusing again after they found the source of the noise, already knowing.  
  
"How about, I don't know, _moving?_ “, the voice sounds richer and louder when Rin quickly closed the gap between them, shaking red damp strands out of his face.  
  
Beads of sweat already appeared on his forehead and he wipes some dirt off of his chin. He's out of breath, the length of the game clearly taking its toll.

 

Right. Louder than everything but him.

  
"I know“, Haru answers, his voice nearly inaudible against the noise around him.

Yet the moment is gone. It was surpassed by Rin's presence, loud and aggressive, pushy as usual, and finally he feels as if time kicks back in again. Haru tries to ignore the small smile tugging at his mouth.  
  
Rin doesn't waste any time to bark an answer, but Haru could swear he heard him _tsk_.  
  
Within a blink of an eye, Rin dashes forward to join the other chasers who tried to take formation against the brawling wind when the other team got hands on the quaffle again.  
  
It wasn't unusual, for Rin to shake him up like this, Haru was even used to this by now. Still, it made him think, even just for a second, of moments which felt both like recently and far, far away.

  
Things like rainy summer days, strolling on the streets in worn out sneakers, still feeling bruises on knees and sore shoulders from the day before. It felt like eating ice cream on cold autumn days, complaining it's 'freezing my brain'.  
  
It felt like 'I'm winning this time!' and 'You gonna race me, Nanase?'  
  
It was 'home' and Haru felt like remembering for a second.  
  
For a second one part of his mind thought he could spare time for it, before the rest recognised a twinkle in the gray sky, a quick flash of gold.  
  
He barely remembered the days before he knew Rin. It was almost amusing to Haru how odd it felt wording this thought out, 'before Rin'.  
  
Because 'before' meant 'without', and after meant 'always him', always there. Always loud and annoying, but there.  
  
Necessary. Important to him, close to him.  
  
It meant Rin letting into his life, allowing him inside.  
  
No. Not allowing.  
  
Because Rin never needed allowance, never asked for it when he stormed inside, made his way into Haru's life without asking. Always being loud.  
  
Everything but quiet.  
  
The broad, wide grins, lips revealing sharp teeth, letting out a long everlasting laugh had always been a feature of Rin as a kid, just like his shining beaming eyes and his warm nature and presence.  
  
If he was anything, he was that one new thing in his life he couldn't ignore. Couldn't chase him away like everyone else who were too loud, too close and basically everything he wasn't comfortable with.  
  
But no matter how much he tried to shut him out, turn himself away from him, he always seemed to find a way back in front of him, next to him.  
  
Next to him like that rainy day in February five years ago.

  
The other kids were yelling, screaming loudly with reddened noses and cheeks in the cold late winter weather, playing around and jumping into the large puddles all over the schoolyard. It was a numbing sound to Haruka's ears.  
  
He crouched nearer to the water's edge of the school's tiny pond. He was near the fences marking the school grounds and it felt a little quieter around there. It was nice, soothing even; the air felt a little less heavy. It was easier to avoid gazes.  
  
Dark, green bushes to his left and the almost frozen pond in front of him. Only a round shaped hole in the middle of the thin layer of ice gave way to the olive green -brown water.  
Haruka let out a little huff when the volume of his classmates turned up. For a moment, he wished Makoto were there with him and not sick with a cold in bed.  
  
He wouldn't mind some boys calling 'Look, he's at the pond again, that weirdo Nanase' as much, pointing fingers at him, laughing, howling even louder when he turned his face away.  
  
It wasn't so much about being called names, rather than being pointed out. Because it brought attention, it brought questions, unknown faces looking and him, staring at him. Haruka scrunched up his nose into a tiny pout.

 

Still, he would prefer being called names over being called things like a prodigy, gifted with talent at such young age.  
  
As much as he loved swimming and feeling the water around him, he really hated it when people watched him doing so.  
  
Even when he didn't have to dive under in the pool when the other kids were too distracting, letting it dull his hearing and clear his vision, alsowhen he simply was doing laps in the more quiet areas of the pool, mostly people watched him.

Mostly because they had to, like the teacher, but they did it with these _looks_.  
  
Like they would be about to say 'Nanase-kun, your swimming is amazing! I just know you will be an astonishing athlete when you're older, you just wait!', or saying even more words that Haruka couldn't quite grasp the hidden message of.  
  
But what Haruka did understand was enough. It meant crowds, it meant strange people around him, it meant never swimming without being watched.  
  
Haruka shook his head a little without even realizing it.  
  
No. That's all he had to say to these things. _No. I'm not interested. I don't want to._  
  
People usually laughed at that or looked at him in confusion, saying meaningless things like 'Now, now, let's talk about it some other day'.  
  
'Don't talk back', is what they really wanted to say, Haruka thought. He didn't really care though, neither abour what they said nor what they wanted to say.

  
He just wished they wouldn't do it at all.

As if it moved out of its own will, his hand was suddenly above the little hole in the crass ice.

It was like scratching your head or gripping your arm when you're uncertain about something or just needed to do something with your body, just to distract yourself the very least. Automatic, that's that it felt like.  
  
Once he lowered his hand towards the water, the still surface began to move. A tiny, lazy wave moved from the center to the icy corner of the hole and stopped there. It was weak, almost unnoticeable and mattered only little.  
  
But it was Haruka who did it and the water responded to his request. It always did.

The water listened without disturbing him and answered without making noise.  
  
To Haruka, it was the perfect companion. More so, it felt like the water was more than just a tiny pond, it was more than sleepy motion in winter's slumber.  
  
The water was alive. That much Haruka had always known, but this was different. He was controlling it, even if just a little.  
  
Having control about something so tiny should not matter, but it did. To him, it meant comfort.  
  
He never questioned it once and he never told anyone about it. It just felt natural, after being always connected to water in a special way, it felt like he just took another step in their way of communicating.  
  
The twisting feeling in his gut slowly faded while he was watching the waves roll against the sharp edges of the ice, the corners of his mouth turning up in a secret, soft smile.  
  
His breathing was calm and soundless and even though the other kids were still yelling like they ran into battle (which they probably were), the only sound he could register was the 'splosh' of the small waves.  
  
He sighed. It felt peaceful.

  
"That is so cool!“

  
Haruka's entire posture froze.  
  
He clammed his mouth shut, his jaw feeling tense, teeth hitting with the shock. His neck and back felt hot and then really cold as he slowly turned his head to the right, looking into a bright face of a boy with wine red hair and sharp teeth.  
  
His mouth shaped like a little 'o' of awe, his red eyes shimmering like they were the sun, his eyebrows raised so high they almost disappeared under his long red locks hanging all over his face.  
  
His hands were on his knees, protected by light purple gloves, matching the scarf loosely wrapped around his neck.  
  
Haruka blinked once. Twice. Then he realized he'd never seen this boy before. Also, and that hit him only shortly after, he apparently saw him move the water.  
  
"I...“, Haruka muttered, looking aside. He didn't really know what to say but he had to say something. It seemed like he was about to make a total fuss about it and Haru rather avoided him doing so.  
  
"It's just water“, was what he finally went with, because it was.

  
The other boy shook his head. Haruka felt irritation grow inside of him. It _was_ water, there's no arguing with that.  
  
"No, yeah, I mean, sure it is, but!“, the boy spluttered, his posture shaking with excitement, his mouth curling into a joyful smile. His hands went to fists, like he was about to cheer for Haruka for moving the water.  
  
Haruka's irritation slowly changed into discomfort. What was this boy's deal? If he wanted to make fun of him, he could just get over with it and leave again. Why was he still there? Why was he so loud?  
  
"You did that! Right? I mean, you did it with your hand!“, he went on, his voice growing louder.  
  
Haruka's expression turned downwards, like a string was pulled at his chin. _Shut up._

  
"I...yes.“, he answered after a short pause because he saw no way in trying to lie himself out of it. There wasn't really a reason to anyway, whatever the boy told the others wouldn't be more than calling him a weirdo again.  
  
"So cool!“, the boy shrieked out again in an overjoyed, high-pitched squeal and jumped right next to him, sitting on his knees like himself.His red eyes stared at him like he was the most interesting thing in the world, like he just discovered a new species.  
  
Haruka stared back, unable to avoid his piercing gaze now.  
  
Before he could think of anything to respond, the boy went on blathering.  
  
"You're Nanase-kun, right? I'm Matsuoka Rin! I'm kinda new here and we're not in the same class so I guess you don't know me yet!“, he laughed at the last words, even though they didn't appear very funny to Haruka.  
  
Matsuoka didn't seem to expect a response so he looked at the pond again.

  
"I can't believe it!“, Matsuoka sighed in a happy, honeyed tone, hugging his knees closer and shifting his weight from one foot to the other, still with a glowing smile on his face.  
  
"Can't believe I'm not the only one here! I mean, maybe there are more, I don't really know. I mean I can't just ask around you know? I just had to wait until we can finally go in April but knowing somebody before that is just so cool!“  
  
Haru didn't really get what Matsuoka was blabbering about in what felt like the speed of light, but he sensed he knew more about the topic of their conversation than he did. Something Haruka was apparently supposed to know.  
  
"What are you talking about?“, Haruka asked with a tilt of his eyebrow, trying to sound neither too interested nor ignorant. "Go where?“  
  
Matsuoka stopped moving at all like his agitation was suddenly paused. For a few seconds, he only blinked at him, sometimes making noises like he was about to say something but couldn't decide on what to begin with.  
  
"You- you _know_!“, he then said hesitantly, his excitement slowly seeping away, making space for disbelief and worry. A ghost of his smile was still visible around his mouth, but it was a rather pitiful sight. "I mean, you did get the letter right?“  
  
"Letter...?“, Haruka muttered, going quiet when he felt a thought creeping into his mind.  
  
Or instead of a thought, it was fragments of a conversation he had with his grandmother a few weeks ago.Haruka's expression froze and his belly felt heavy and cold again.

  
'You know Haru-chan, I've been waiting for this day since your last birthday...'  
  
'...this letter is for you but I wanted to tell you about it before I read it to you...'  
  
'...your grandfather would be so proud of you...of course mom and dad are too, even though they don't understand everything about it...'  
  
'…you really are something _special_ , Haru-chan...'  
  
Haru stood up, his fists curled tight and solid under his jacket. His expression must have been still the same, because Matsuoka looked at him with confusion.  
  
"Nanase?“, he asked, blinking at him with a tilted eyebrow. He gave an awkward, short laugh. "What's wrong? Did I say something weird?“  
  
Haruka didn't hear the following words Matsuoka called after him; the blood rushing through his ears and his heart hammering in his chest were too loud, too prominent to ignore.  
  
He quickly walked inside, hiding inside the last stall of the bathroom so Matsuoka wouldn't find him, waiting for the liberating sound of the recess bell.

 

* * *

 

 

Something special.  
  
Haruka thought about these words.  
  
He tried not to, but it was hard to fight feeling this...discomfort about it. He tried not to because whenever he felt the flurry of feelings mixing together in his guts, it felt like they wouldn't go away again, like they crept into his skin and stayed there.  
However, his mind decided otherwise.  
  
And so did his grandmother as well, at the end of January when he got home from school. Her face, although definitely marked with the signs of age but still showing her kind and clear nature, was smiling that day, as Haruka recalled. She had been smiling the whole time, actually.  
  
Something in her voice sounded...important. Rich.

Like it's something she waited for telling him without knowing how, and now that the occasion came in the form of a one-page letter feeling like she was never really prepared for this talk at all.  
  
At least that's how he took the silence when he sat in front of her in the living room, nibbling on a sour orange slice while waiting for her to begin.  
  
When she finally started to speak, her voice wasn't shaky, only her left hand somewhat was. Resting on the letter Haruka still hadn't read and still didn't know why it was such a big deal.  
  
Then she talked for a while. She paused from time to time, asking Haru if he understood or wanted to know anything.  
  
Haruka shrugged or shook his head a little. She hesitated, but continued without digging deeper.  
  
When she finished, Haruka looked up. Her face seemed anxious or wrought up, Haruka couldn't quite tell. Her eyebrows were turned upwards a little, her grayish blue eyes shone with a question she didn't put into her words. The wrinkles around her eyes twitched slightly when she rapidly blinked a few times.  
  
"Do you understand, Haru-chan?“, she then asked, her tone sounding like she tried a little too much sounding casual, shaking a little at his name.  
  
Haruka nodded, because he did.  
  
"Isn't there anything you want to know, dear?“, her tone changed into insistence, but a warm smile appeared on her face. "Anything on your mind?“  
  
Haruka thought for a moment, looking to the floor and then into her eyes again with calm curiosity.

"Are we having mackerel miso for dinner?“  
  
  
Makoto came over at the weekend.  
  
They sat in Haruka's room with warm, steaming cups of green tea in their hands and a bag of chips half empty between them, talking about school, swimming and whatever came to Makoto's mind he suspected he might have missed over the last week. It was a cold, gray day again so they snuggled into fuzzy blankets Haruka's grandmother gave them while they were sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed.  
  
Makoto still looked a little pale, but he wasn't wearing a mask or scarf, and after Haruka asked he said the doctor allowed him to come to school on Monday again. He didn't say it, but he the first thing Haruka felt was relief.

He wouldn't have to be alone again in school. He wouldn't have to talk to strange kids.

Like Matsuoka.  
  
Haruka made a little face.  
  
Makoto looked up.  
  
"What is it?“, he asked in his typical calm friendly manner. "Is your tea bitter?“  
  
Haruka shook his head. "It's nothing“, he muttered.  
  
There was no point in hiding it because Makoto knew. He always knew when something bothered him, even though Haru never quite understood how.  
  
Still, Makoto left him some air to breathe and they went silent for a while, only filling the room with the rustling sound of the chip bag.  
  
While chewing on his last bite, already feeling thirst itch in his throat, Matsuoka crossed his mind once again.  
  
The familiar feeling of unease started to grow in his chest again, remembering his radiant expression and the pure excitement in his voice.  
  
What exactly was he so excited about? All Haruka could sense in everything the letter stood for was change.  
  
And change was something Haruka certainly wasn't comfortable with. It always meant to leave something behind and gain something new, regardless of if it will something better or worse.  
  
Since he was content with everything the way it has been the last years, why change it?  
  
He heard Makoto sigh and reminded himself that he was still there.

"Your grandmother told me“, Makoto simply said, his clear green eyes seeking Haruka's gaze.  
  
He looked a little tired or rather prepared for something he wasn't sure he had enough energy to deal with.  
  
Haruka didn't respond. He figured just as much, his grandmother and the Tachibanas were close ever since the two of them went to kindergarten together and that alone must have been enough reason to console them.  
  
"What are you gonna do?“  
  
He looked up. The weary look in Makoto's eyes stayed there.  
  
It somehow urged Haruka to say 'You should go home and get some rest' or 'I don't feel well'. It made his throat even more dry. He took a sip of tea, being more thankful about the few seconds he got an excuse for not answering the question.  
  
Not because he didn't want to talk about it or because he feared the conversation. He simply felt, just like Makoto's gaze, he couldn't bring the energy up to start it.  
  
Maybe he feared it couldn't be stopped after, like he finally acknowledged that it was a _thing_ , something real and not an abstract idea.

"I don't want to go.“  
  
It slipped out of his mouth before he even worded it out in his head, feeling the surprise hit him only seconds after. He felt a heavy weight ins his stomach, both relieved and appalled at the same time that the one thought which was louder than everything else in his head now came out of his mouth and filled the room like an oppressive fog.  
  
Makoto didn't seem surprised at all. His expression stayed the same, but his voice was coated in patience when he spoke again.  
  
"Why not?“  
  
Haruka's face twisted the tiniest bit. He shifted in his position a little, blowing on his tea without drinking it. The weight in his belly felt more and more like something alive, twisting and twitching around.

He felt a little sick, too.  
  
"I don't see why“, he finally muttered, still staring and the green, whirling surface of his tea. The ceramic mug should have felt warmer in his cold hands.  
  
Makoto sighed again when he leaned against the bed more, finally turning his head away a little from Haruka. He looked into the room without any focus, his mouth forming a pout that seemed more musing than everything else.

  
"I'm sorry I can't come with you“, he then said with a voice that sounded too warm, smiling a little too much at it. Haruka looked at him, feeling like he was supposed to say something.  
  
But Makoto shook his head a little. "I guess it's a bit scary. To go alone and all. But you actually _can_ go, you know?“  
  
Haruka frowned. His belly felt like ice now.  
  
Makoto seemed to notice and he quickly turned around to face him again. "I'm not saying you have to. They won't force you or anything. Just...I mean, you should think about it. The things you'd learn over there, it's pretty amazing.“  
  
Haruka put his cup aside. The tea had gone cold.  
Makoto's nervous attitude started to seep into Haru as well, but all that reached him was a bitter taste in his mouth. Was it because of the tea after all?  
  
"Haru, don't be mad“, Makoto said again. "I'm just trying to say it's something real spe-“  
  
"It's special, I know.“, Haruka cut him off. His voice still remained calm, but the bitterness sunk into his tongue more and more.  
  
His hands grabbed the blanket instead of the cup, feeling like they needed to do _something_. The ill feeling from his stomach started to rise into his chest. He barely recognised how his voice sounded a little cold.

  
"I know it is“, he said, pulling the blanket more over his lap because the temperature seemed to fall more and more and his toes felt like ice.  
  
_When you're ten, they call you a prodigy._  
  
Laying in bed later that night, hours after he should have fallen asleep, he realized the tea has been even a little too sweet.


	2. Fly With Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took (and is) longer than expected orz
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, also for leaving kudos and lovely comments on the first one. It means everything to me, really.
> 
> Also, huge thanks to Livid for beta-reading. You're a lifesaver.

Like the muffled sound of the rain outside, prickling against the window when the wind changed, everything inside of Haruka's mind felt out of rhythm when he woke up. He wished he could just keep his eyes closed after the alarm went off.  
His entire body felt as heavy as lead weight when he mustered up the strength to sit up.

Last night's sleep hadn't really been recreative. His eyes burned a little and felt like glued together.

A loud yawn escaped him and stopped mid-way with a stuttered sound when the first real thought crossed his mind.

'It wasn't a dream.'

Yesterday really happened.  
  
It was difficult to swallow this thought down.  
  
The hours of sleep, although rather short of a number, had at least granted him some time to suppress all these swirling thoughts in his head. Now that they were back, they felt immovable and bigger than before.  
  
Most of all, they made no sense.

For a moment, it felt like he might be able to find the right words but he couldn't figure out the right order. Something like 'why is it cool to move water' formed in his head.

Haruka shrugged, without knowing why or to which thought. It was a quick motion, like he shook something off of his head.

The howling rain outside cushioned his thoughts for a while and after he left for school, he didn't think of anything in particular. When Makoto picked him up halfway, his own lime green umbrella sheltering both of them, his mood lifted a bit.  
  
At least he wouldn't have to be alone at school today.

He let himself sink into Makoto talking, without really understanding the words. They slipped away before he even could pay attention.

A stream of words flooded over his ears and he sensed Makoto tried to avoid picking up their last conversation. Instead, he filled their silence with warmth and easiness, sometimes even laughing although there wasn't a reason to.

Although Haruka could see through his scheme, he was thankful and relieved.  
  
Makoto knew they still needed to _talk_ , but he didn't. Maybe he wanted Haruka to start once he was ready.

Once more, he was glad he didn't have to be alone today. He was glad Makoto was there.  
  
  
At least until the first recess that day.  
  
  
"Why is he here?"

Haruka's quiet and dry voice cut through the silence and they both winced a bit. Makoto still kept his forced, awkward smile in his face when he turned to Matsuoka next to him.

They were standing on small stone steps, leading to the sports fields and playground. Tall old trees stood around them and sprinkled their shadowed faces with small dots of sunlight.  
  
The other kids were loud and joyful as usual, but Haruka only felt empty when he looked at their gloomy faces, avoiding direct eye contact.  
  
Matsuoka scratched his neck after Makoto glanced at him, giving a nearly unnoticeable nod towards Haruka's direction.  
  
"Well, I, uh", Matsuoka began with an uncertain smile on his face, his eyebrows turned upwards and his eyes looking still aside. He looked bashful, but Haruka couldn't tell why.  
  
"I wanted to say sorry", he then said. "I guess I got a little too excited after seeing you...you know." He gave a short, fake sounding laugh. It looked weird on his face, which was ususally constantly smiling.  
  
Haruka's eyes widened in surprise, especially after seeing how Matsuoka's face turned more serious after.  
  
"I didn't ask if you actually wanted to go to Mahou", he continued and his tone sounded honest and regretful this time.

Instead of their usual beaming glow, his eyes rather looked hooded and were hard to read. He coughed a little when he finally looked at Haruka directly.  
  
"Sorry about that. But, uh...", he stopped for second, rubbed his neck with a little more force and apparently lost the courage to look at him again.  
  
"It would be cool if we could become friends", he then muttered with a soft blush on his cheeks.

  
To that, Haruka could only stare.  
  
After all, he guessed right this morning.

'Today's _really_ off.'

Looking back, this was the first time Haruka had thought 'Don't'.

  
It was an instinctive reaction to an unknown feeling he couldn't pinpoint. A rushing excitement in his chest he couldn't ignore started to grow that day. Like a rising energy, waiting for release, it made him feel on edge and uneasy.

Something about Matsuoka felt strange.

Haruka had sensed this from the moment they met, but now he was certain.

Still, he couldn't decide on whether that meant he didn't like him or just didn't understand him.

The latter was true for sure.

Because who would ask for friendship without barely knowing another person, who would talk to their best friend to learn more about them, who...

 ...who would invite them going to the beach right after school, eating meat buns from the convenience store and skipping stones over the water, especially in late February.  
  
"Ahh, I can't manage more than two bounces", Makoto complained, after his stone disappeared in the sea with a blunt 'splosh'.

"You're not throwing them right", Matsuoka laughed, taking another bite from his meat bun and searching for a flat stone around where he sat on the shore.

Haruka hugged his knees as he felt the wind brush over his face. It messed up his hair, too.

Even though it was a bit cold and he could already feel how tiresome Matsuoka's overly energetic behaviour was, he had to admit that this wasn't too bad.

The sky was washed clean and beautiful after the rain finally had stopped in the afternoon and it colored the world in a soothing, gentle orange glow. The sea was calm and the slow and lazy waves made quiet sounds like long deep breaths.

Haruka's feet shifted slightly and his fingers gripped his jacket a little tighter as he watched the water moving.

Makoto turned his head away from Matsuoka and looked at Haruka with modest wonder.  
  
"Haru?", he asked warily. He chuckled at his next words."You're not thinking about swimming in the ocean, are you?"  
  
Haruka only made a little 'hmph' sound and buried his chin between his crossed arms.

Makoto laughed a little more, but Matsuoka looked up from a particularly flat stone his his hand.  
  
Again, there was this _look_ on his face.

Just as if Haruka was the prettiest and most perfect pebble on the whole beach.

"You swim?", Matsuoka barked at him with a wide smile and shimmering eyes. His cheeks were red from excitement, too.  
  
Haruka felt this strange agitation coil in his guts again and a little furrow appeared between his eyebrows.

Somehow he felt affronted, even though he didn't know why.  
  
He turned his head aside and couldn't quite help the pout forming on his expression.  
  
"Yeah", he answered.  
  
"That's awesome!", Matsuoka continued in his typical excited and overjoyed manner. He moved a little closer to Haruka.

"I used to swim too when I was younger. Which styles can you do?", he went on, without letting Haruka draw breath.  
  
Haruka huffed, feeling the closing proximity itch at his shoulder. "I only swim freestyle", he muttered. still not facing him.  
  
"Haru really likes swimming", Makoto said to Matsuoka with a soft smile. "We go to the beach almost every day in summer."

It earned him a side glare from Haruka and he went silent again after giving a sheepish looking shrug.  
  
"Oh", Matsuoka made with a knowing expression. "Well, I kinda guessed you like water in the schoolyard", he grinned as he looked at Makoto. "I did that a lot too! It's good for training your whole body. My dad suggested it, so I-"

A huge wave of a thought seemed to hit Matsuoka then as he paused in both talking and moving all of a sudden.  
  
Haruka would enjoy the rare silence, if it weren't for the vibrant passion firing in Matsuoka's eyes as they stared directly at him.  
  
"Do you guys play quidditch?"  
  
Haruka didn't understand him at first. since Matsuoka was so excited about asking them that he stumbled over his words a bit as he blabbered them out.

"What?", was all Haruka could answer. Neither did he know what Matsuoka was talking about, nor how he made that conclusion from swimming.

"Ah, Haru, I told you about it", Makoto replied, to which Haruka turned his head in confusion. "It's this sport where people play on broomsticks, with throwing balls through tall loops, remember?"  
  
"You make it sound so lame", Matsuoka complained and stretched the last words in a gruff sigh. "And you don't even know it, Nanase?", he pouted a little and looked at Haruka as if he offended him.  
  
"I didn't grow up with this stuff", Haruka answered defiantly, his expression still frozen. He did recall Makoto roughly explaining this game to him some time ago, but he kept it to himself.  
  
Matsuoka sighed again.  
  
"Well, I can't accept that", he stood up and patted off the sand of his pants."'Cause it's the best sport ever. How about you visit me on the weekend and I show you how to play? You too, Tachibana!", he straightened up putting his hands on his hips, with his usual sharp toothed grin.

Haruka stared up at him, one brow raised in disbelief.  
  
  
Something about Matsuoka _really_ was strange.

And yet, Haruka ignored to the loud 'Don't!' in his head once more.

Because besides his annoying cocky attitude concerning this 'quidditch', something changed in Matsuoka's gaze.

Instead of the glow and temper, Haruka sensed...provocation.

  
More so, it was a hint of challenge.  
  
  
And even though he couldn't tell why, he ended up falling for it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Why are we _here_?"  
  
Haruka's tone was more sulky than he intended as Makoto sat down next to him on the patio leading to the garden of the Matsuoka household.

Makoto passed him a lemon soda can and opened his with one eye squinted as it fizzed loudly.  
  
"Matsuoka said it, didn't he?", Makoto answered after he took the first sip. "It's safer here, your house doesn't have the protection spells so muggles can't see us."

Haruka opened his can too and mumbled "Doesn't your house have these too?"

Makoto shrugged slightly. "Yeah, but I only have one broom. And it's not even mine, it's my father's old one", he added while patting a scratched, shabby looking broomstick laying next to him.

Haruka frowned. Makoto didn't get his question right, but secretly, he was asking himself.  
  
_How did they persuade him to come here anyway?_

_  
How did he actually agree on something that sounded so ridiculous, too obviously impossible to be true?_

   
"Sorry for the wait!", Matsuoka yelled from behind as he trod towards them, carrying another broom in his hands. "My sister couldn't find it at first. She barely uses it", he said out of breath, but lightheartedly.

He carefully lay it down next to Makoto's and his own and looked at the three in line with visible contentment.

"I think Nanase should take Gou's. It's better for beginners. And, uh...", his expression changed to something almost shy when his gaze crossed Makoto's.

"You can...use it, right? I mean...", he let the last words slur into nothing, with underlying caution and a higher pitch at the end, as if it wasn't a big deal to ask.

Makoto looked confused at first, but then he smiled meekly. "Oh, yeah. I tried it before, a few times. I mean, the charms on the broom do most of the work, right?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, I suppose", Matsuoka answered with a little cough and rubbing his neck again.

He looked over to Haruka as he crossed his arms, a question in his eyes.

"You ready?", Matsuoka grinned, even seeing Haruka's growing frown.

Haruka wasn't sure if he asked him to stand up or not, so he just stared back.

"Looks uncomfortable", he bluntly replied, looking down at the old, used brooms.

Matsuoka only laughed in response and, to Haruka's discontent, Makoto joined in with a light chuckle.

"What?", Haruka slightly grumbled in Makoto's direction, who only smiled at him as a reply and took another sip of his soda.

"Don't worry about it", Matsuoka answered, waving one hand appeasingly. "They took care of that too."

The furrow between Haruka's brows only deepened. It wasn't new to him that Makoto knew more about the magic world than him (as he knew basically nothing), but being lectured by Matsuoka was like taking a burning slap to the face.  
  
This day clearly couldn't get any worse.

Haruka closed his eyes with something faintly throbbing in his head as he only listened to the thin prickeling of his drink.

Something brought him back to reality when Matsuoka grabbed his broom with a swift motion and turned his head to him again, a bold smirk playing around his mouth.  
  
"Come on, Nanase! Don't tell me you're scared!", his grin widened at Haruka's scoff as he turned his head away again.

He barely noticed how his pointy teeth always peeked out whenever Matsuoka grinned. It was a kind of an irritating thought and he quickly shook it off.  
  
"I'm not", Haruka answered quietly and picked his broom up.

An urge to say the words 'I just don't know how' just made him clench his teeth more, and he carefully put one leg over it and sat down.  
  
He still didn't really feel anything in particular, only the soft feeling of sitting on the broom surprised him, it felt like he was sitting on a cushion. So Matsuoka had at least been right about that.

Matsuoka's mother then appeared behind the entrance, holding a little watering can in her hand.

"Rin, be careful! I will watch you from the kitchen, so don't even think about flying higher than I told you!", she called with a soft, but serious tone.  
  
"Alright, alright", Matsuoka sighed with played annoyance and he motioned to Makoto to get on his broom as well after she disappeared inside again.

Makoto seemed to hesitate and murmured something with 'Didn't do this for a while' and 'not too high at first, okay?'  
  
"Just do what I do", Matsuoka said, and without any other explanation, his feet pushed off the ground and then he jumped high, higher- no, not jumping, he was _soaring,_ not sinking for a second.

He steadily left more space between the grass and himself, grinning confidently and then looking down on them with impatience.  
  
He really was flying. _  
  
_ Haruka couldn't believe his eyes. He blinked, even felt like rubbing his eyes for a second. But it was really happening, and neither Matsuoka nor Makoto reacted like it was something out of the ordinary, like it was the most normal thing to do.  
  
Then Matsuoka turned around sharply and faced them.  
  
"What are you waiting for? Come on up!", he called, threw himself back a little and teetered with his legs.

Suddenly, Haruka's feet felt really heavy. He glanced aside to Makoto, who looked a little more pale than usual and shrugged nervously at him before he shakily pushed himself off the ground as well.  
  
He looked like a firefly with only one wing as he weakly wiggled his way to Matsuoka, but still, he was flying as well.  
  
Haruka gulped down a little as Makoto, sweating and and laughing with an odd pitch, also looked down on him expectantly.  
  
'I don't know how', Haruka wanted to say again, but he bit his tongue. Being surpassed by both Matsuoka and Makoto was something he couldn't handle, even if it was stupid and impossible.

Before he could overthink it again, he also gripped his broom tightly and gave it a powerful upwarded push, but still thinking 'I will fall' the whole time.  
  
The swoop under his feet startled him, but most of all, he felt the energy rushing through his chest again.

He opened his eyes in awe.  
  
"I'm not falling", he actually said out loud, as it caught him by surprise before he could stop his mouth.  
  
"Of course you're not, dummy", Matsuoka laughed as he flew closer to him, stopping only a few inches away. "You scared?"  
  
Haruka looked at him. Then he looked down to the ground again, realising with slightly widening eyes that they were already higher than he expected.  
  
It would hurt if he'd fall down.  
  
Still, he couldn't say that his loudly pounding heart or the blood rushing through his ears were caused by fear.

   
He felt the wind rustle at his clothes, brush through his hair, touch his cheeks.  
  
The broom gently balanced in the air, securing him with a strange source of power, like it was a creature of his own will.

Haruka shook his head slightly. "I'm not", he said, and it was the truth.

As he floated steadily next to Matsuoka, who constantly flashed a confident and encouraging smile, he carefully straightened his back, letting his hands reach more towards the middle of the broom. He stopped focusing on 'not falling' and looked around.  
His eyes shone with a vibrant blue as he saw the sun beaming with a brighter light than he'd ever seen, warming his reddened cheeks only a little. _  
  
_ The sky looked more beautiful too, being closer to it like this, it's pale blue reflecting in Haruka's azure eyes.  
  
It was then that Haruka realized - he was _flying._  
  
A sudden, fierce, but also quick shudder leapt through his entire body and made him grab onto his broom with more firmness, a surge pulling from his stomach upwards like something wanted to escape his body and soar even higher.  
  
Higher.  
  
Haruka realised, and with realisation came astonishment, he wanted to fly higher, high above the ground and everything, just away.  
  
_Away._

It all felt so strangely familiar but still so new and exciting.

Haruka looked up. He wanted to fly above the clouds, too.  
  
Most of all, he wanted to feel the wind more on his skin, wanted more, more of this feeling he only had a taste of.

  
However, as he heard Matsuoka call his name without any easiness in his voice and then saw Makoto trundle slowly towards the grass again, looking a little green now, he had to put that on hold for today.  
  
The sun felt warmer on his back as he landed with shaky legs.  
  
Matsuoka supported the sick, but okay looking Makoto on his shoulder and told Haruka to just leave the brooms in the grass.  
  
"Well, that was fun", he chuckled a little out of breath from carrying Makoto, who kept murmuring 'You didn't have to come down too, I'm sorry, I'm fine, really' but appeared very thankful as he sat down on the porch, grabbing his slightly trembling knees as if he felt glad just by being on the ground again.

"I'm sorry", Makoto sighed and looked up with a troubled face. "I thought I could do it by now."  
  
"Aw, it's okay", Matsuoka laughed and clapped his shoulder. "But you should have told me, you know", he added with a more serious tone. He accompanied his next words with a lifted finger, like he was about to tell him a secret. "I'm not telling anyone, but it's dangerous if you're scared!"  
  
Makoto apologized again and even bowed a little, to which Matsuoka reacted rather flustered and waved his hands about.  
  
"It's just something my dad taught me. 'Never fly if you're scared of the sky'", Matsuoka laughed a little at that and his hand ran through his hair at the back of his neck again."Easy to remember!"

"Your dad's a flyer too?", Makoto asked with a raspier voice than usual from exhaustion, but also with interest.  
  
Matsuoka sat down too and nodded.

"Yeah, well, he was. He died a few years ago." His voice trailed off at these words and sounded thin. The smile on his lips turned into something unreadable.  
  
"Oh", Makoto sat up, but then hung his head a little as he folded his hands between his legs and fidgeted a little. "I'm sorry."  
  
Matsuoka shook his head, still smiling. "It's okay. 'Cus I'm gonna make his dream come true!", he grinned again as he crossed his arms behind his neck. "He wanted to be a famous quidditch player. You know, like in the National Team!"  
  
Haruka couldn't hide how he was surprised about hearing of a National Quidditch Team, which 'is sooo cool' as Matsuoka confirmed with enthusiastic nods.

"Toyohashi Tengu!", he blabbered, "that's their name. The captain, Tanaka, he's amazing! He set a new record for scoring by himself a few years ago", he sighed and clapped his cheeks with regained enthusiasm.

"Ahh, I wanna be a chaser too when I'm in a team! They're so cool!"  
  
Haruka kept silent, but his mouth twisted a little in disbelief. He still didn't know much about quidditch, but chasers were the players who scored and tackled opponent chasers so they couldn't get their hands on the ball and that sounded neither like fun nor flying.

It sounded like rules and bruises, one more unpleasant than the other.

"What about you, Nanase?"  
  
Haruka looked up to see Matsuoka and Makoto both facing him with curiosity.

He raised a brow in question.  
  
"I mean", Matsuoka rolled his eyes. "Which position do you like?"  
  
Haruka quickly turned his head away again and chewed on his inner cheek as he tried not to sound too annoyed.

"None", he replied flatly.  
  
Matsuoka leaned back onto his hands and let out a strained huff.  
  
"Yeah, I figured. Since you never played before. But", he grinned again and a brisk expression flashed over his features. "You liked it, didn't you?"  
  
The pressure of his clenched teeth almost hurt.  
  
"I knew you would", Matsuoka went on without even bothering to wait for an answer. "I think it's kinda like swimming."

Haruka was so surprised, he forgot he's been avoiding crossing Matsuoka's gaze.

  
_Like swimming._

  
Haruka blinked.  
  
He knew it felt familiar, but... _swimming?_

Swimming in the sky, with a broom? That was completely absurd.

  
His stare must have looked dumbfounded and genuinely unbelieving, because after a pause, Matsuoka burst into laughter.  
  
"Look at you!", he chuckled and shakily waved his pointing finger at him.  
His giggle quickly turned into high pitched squeals and he held his belly under Haruka's growing annoyance and Makoto's sheepish irritation. There were tears in the corners of his eyes when he managed to speak again.

"Sorry, I just...", he sighed with a wavering voice. "I didn't know you could look so-"  
  
Haruka's eyebrows turned downwards as he now fully faced Matsuoka, who instantly shut his mouth and managed to keep his little outbursts under control.

Haruka still grumbled silently about Matsuoka humiliating him, but his pout vanished into a thoughtful frown as his eyes crossed the brooms laying on the ground and his hands jerked a little, like he tried to grab one but stopped himself.  
  
"It's weird", he said, nodding with eyes shut like it needed his confirmation. "But I didn't dislike it."  
  
The expression on Matsuoka's face was hard to read as he looked up. A little sigh followed as he kicked a little stone over the ground. "You know...they do teach it over there."  
  
Haruka's posture froze alltogether.  
  
He expected Matsuoka would bring this up as soon as he could, but he was still abashed by how blatantly he started the topic.

"I don't need to go to a school to fly", Haruka replied and saw Makoto fidget at his side.  
  
Matsuoka snorted and his shoulders jerked in a shrugging motion. "Maybe."  
  
Silence fell heavy after his one-worded reply and the only sounds audible were Matsuoka's mother rumbling somewhere inside of the house, probably doing dishes.

Unlike Haruka, Matsuoka seemed to be set on breaking the silence quickly.

"So", he said, too loud and obviously for the purpose of changing the mood. "You didn't came here to just fly around, did you?"

Somehow, the original plan of learning how to play quidditch only came to their minds by now.  
  
So they spent the rest of the day doing just that, although it mostly consisted of Matsuoka explaining the rules and them throwing balls to each other on the safe ground.

Even though Haruka's whole body itched with the urge to fly again, he respected Makoto's wish to leave it for today. He also didn't want to give Matsuoka another chance to lecture him about 'swimming' without water, but he kept silent about that.

When the sun painted the sky in a deep, warm orange and they were about to leave, Matsuoka called after Haruka, who started to fail in hiding his growing frustration with that boy.  
  
"If you think you can fly fine by yourself", he yelled. "Let's see if you can beat me in a race!"  
  
Haruka stood still and stared back at him. He didn't answer, but his gaze clearly said _why_.  
  
Matsouka poked his tongue out at him, followed by a laugh dying in the distance between them.  
  
"I'll never bring Mahou up again, I promise! Only if you beat me, of course!"

Safe from being heard, Haruka let out a long, exhausted sigh. Times and winning meant little to Haruka, but this was different. The thought of living in peace of Matsuoka again _was_ tempting, he had to admit.

That, and the prospect of a chance to fly again, made him nod with sincerity in Matsuoka's direction before he followed Makoto back home.

  
Matsuoka still insisted on flying and practising together over spring break.

He argued a win against Haruka would mean nothing when he still didn't even know the basics about flying - especially _fast_ flying.

To Haruka's relief, Makoto still accompanied him and even sometimes agreed on playing with them, although he insisted on either going through the rules while sitting on the porch or flying very close to the ground.  
  
They couldn't do much more than passing and scoring with the quaffle (one of Matsuoka's old soccer balls in disguise), but with catching and throwing the ball with rough turns and quick leaps, Haruka's flying abilities improved sooner than he expected, and his confidence about winning the promised race grew.

His opinion about quidditch didn't really change, with constantly getting either hit by a ball or Matsuoka's shoulder leaping for just that, unable to stop himself in time.  
  
Matsuoka and him agreed on racing the week before spring break would end. The fact that it concurred with the closing date of sending the letters to Mahoutokoro was just a "lucky coincidence", as Matsuoka worded it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Haruka decided to go to bed early the day before the big race, just to be sure. He stubbornly ignored his faster heartbeat and slightly heated cheeks and ears whenever he thought of the next day; he would win for sure.  
  
As he put himself and his old dolphin plush to bed and fluffed his pillow up a little, his grandmother poked her head inside.  
  
"You're not sick, are you, Haru-chan?", she asked with a soft smile as she came inside his room and touched his forehead with slight worry. "You never go to bed this early."  
  
"I'm not", Haruka mumbled as he shook his head after she ruffled his hair gently.  
  
She straightened herself again, still with softness in her expression. She folded her hands under the wide sleeves of her simple, mauve-hued kimono. Haruka noticed how her smile looked a little tense and the wrinkles under her eyes seemed deeper than usual. The tight bun of her still black hair she wore most of the time was a little loose, too.  
  
Before he could ask or say anything, she sat down on his bed and faced him, with one hand on his. It was warm and her thumb stroked his palm slightly.  
  
"Look, Haruka...", she began and her smile faded slightly, her expression turning more serious as she went on.

"I want you to know that I never wanted to force you to do something you didn't want to. I...", she closed her eyes and held onto his hands while taking a deep breath.

"I guess I might have...taken it for granted. You wanting to go. I guess that's because your grandfather left us early and you...remind me of him. You remind me of his world.", she smiled again, but this time it looked regretful.

"I think I wanted you to carry that part of him on, which would make you both so different from everybody else, make you as unique as you are now."  
  
Haruka felt a sting, cold and bitter. He knew his grandmother wanted to apologize, but his alarmed mind suddenly yelled 'please leave.'  
  
It was one thing calling him a prodigy, staring at him while he was swimming with such obscene and stupid looking faces.  
  
It was one thing calling him special for having 'magic blood' in his veins, for having the ability to move water just by his will.

It was another thing calling either of those the only aspect that made him _himself_.

Because their praise didn't mean anything to Haruka, since both swimming and wizardry came to him naturally, he was born with it. It was nothing he really needed to learn or train much.

He couldn't help but grasp his sheets tighter, fighting the urge to withdraw his hand.  
  
"Well, I can understand why you're scared, of course", his grandmother continued and she didn't notice his changing posture.

"Deciding on wizardry school also means deciding on a career over there. It's a huge step."  
  
Haruka stared blankly at his dolphin plush, which only stared back innocently at him. This was the last thing Haruka could care about, so he didn't answer.

"But", she sighed and held him with her other hand as well now. A deep furrow appeared between her eyebrows as her expression tensed again.

"There's something I need to tell you. I wish I could have told you sooner, but I- I didn't know it until yesterday myself either. I'm sorry, Haruka, but...you can't...you can't just _not_ go, dear."  
  
Her look was intense and compassionate, but this time Haruka let go of her grasp.  
  
"What do you mean?", he mumbled, nearly inaudible.  
  
"Well...", she sighed again, deeper this time and sat up, her hands folded. "A man from the school came to see me yesterday, when you were playing with Makoto-kun and your new friend."

 _Matsuoka-kun,_ Haruka thought. _Not_ _'friend'._

"He was a nice man, very patient and polite. He came all the way from Hokkaido. He's a teacher there, you know."

Haruka frowned. Why did she wait until now to tell him?

"We had tea and he told me a lot about the school. Of course I only knew what your grandfather told me, and that was mostly his friends getting him into trouble", she tittered and put one hand on her chest for a moment.  
  
Haruka didn't move an inch.

"Then he explained to me", she continued and folded her hands again, firmly. "That young wizards _can_ decide on a normal school and career. But you need to at least learn how to control your abilities, they have to teach you the basic things. It could be dangerous for you and your surroundings if you can't control it. Do you understand?"

She tried to hold his hand again, but he hugged his dolphin plush instead. Her hand stopped midway, but her smile stayed and she gently caressed his shoulder.

"What does that mean?", Haruka asked, hugging his dolphin tighter.

She seemed to brace herself for the answer as she deeply took a breath again. "It means you have to go there at least for the first year."  
  
Haruka sat up and the dolphin fell on his lap. "I _have_ to go?", he repeated in a rising panic.  
  
"That", she replied, with a soft grasp of his shoulders and a reassuring nod. "Or they'll send a private teacher. He'll practise with you. Don't worry about it, Haru-chan. It's only for a year. Nobody will force you to stay in school after that. You will catch up in classes in no time."

The reassurance didn't help much to the cold feeling in his chest.

 _'Nobody will force you to go there'_ , it echoed in his head.

His grandmother looked at the clock with a little jolt and stood up.

"Think about it", she kissed his forehead and hugged him. "Everything is going to be alright. Now sleep tight. I love you", she pecked him on the cheek again and then turned off the lights.

The little jellyfish-nightlight bathed his room in a soothing, dark blue.  
  
Everything went silent.  
  
Only the roaring sound of crushing waves in Haruka's ears were loud and impossible to ignore.

   
  
  
Again, he didn't sleep well that night.

  
Everything on his mind mixed together in a flurry of things different people had said to him or had expected him to answer these days, and they became more and more unreadable each day.  
  
Makoto somehow knew, like he always did, as he came to pick him up and go to Matsuoka's house together.  
  
Despite his tensing jaw, he still brought himself to tell him. He didn't react at first, unlike Haruka feared, and only stared at his feet for a while.

When he looked up, his green eyes looked darkened with concern.

"You don't want a private teacher."

Haruka blinked at him in surprise. Makoto did somehow appear to read his mind, but knowing this was odd, even for him.

Slowly, he shook his head. "No."  
  
He loosened the scarf his grandmother told him to wear, despite the warmer sunshine of the early march weather.

Makoto laughed and did the same, without commenting on it. "One year doesn't sound too bad, does it?", his question sounded cautious, but friendly and his smile was genuine.  
  
Haruka looked at the clear blue sky and exhaled, still leaving tiny clouds of breath in the cold air.

"I guess not", he muttered.

It was true, the thought of going to a foreign city and school for one year instead of seven did sound less frightening.  
  
He was still scared. He was scared of the "what if" to everything.

_What if they wouldn't leave it at just the first year after all?_

He was scared of change, scared of things turning into "before" and "after".  
  
Most of all, he was scared of being all by himself.

"You know Haru...", Makoto spoke again, and Haruka flinched slightly at how his tone sounded like he was treading on thin ice.  
  
"I've thought about something."

Haruka still looked up, but his hands strained a little as he put them into his pockets.

"You said you don't want to go because they'd call you 'special' and all again, but...", Makoto continued and his voice trailed off before he went silent for a second.  
  
He halted and turned back at him. Haruka's irritation only grew as he looked at Makoto's smile, looking both sad and encouraging.

He stood still as Makoto spoke again.

"If you think about it...being a wizard going to a wizardry school...how special can you be?"  
  
Haruka nearly tumbled over.

 

 

* * *

 

  
"We're racing one round. Makoto will time us. Watch out for the marks my mom made for us, so don't cheat!", Matsuoka called as he picked up his broom.

Matsuoka's mother sat in the background on a folding chair they'd brought with them to the meadow they measured to be suitable for their race. After she performed the basic protection charms around them, she gently teetered Matsuoka's little sister on her lap, who pointed and cried in excitement after her brother.  
  
Haruka stood, sitting ready on the broom, his hands already gripping the end. He quickly looked at the red sparks floating in the sky in a large, roundish shape around the meadow.

"Watch them yourself", he shot back.  
  
Matsuoka snorted. "I would never cheat! And like I promised, I will leave you alone with Mahou and all if you win!"  
  
Haruka chewed on his lower lip as he felt the wind bristle against his cheek. "And if...you win?"  
  
He avoided wording out his own defeat.  
  
Matsuoka answered with a wide grin. "Then you'll fly with me, Nanase!"  
  
Irritation seemed to be a loyal companion when it came to talking to Matsuoka, and his tilted eyebrow gave that away easily.  
  
"I already did."  
  
"Nah", Matsuoka crossed his arms behind his head again, holding his broom only between his legs. "That wasn't flying _together_. I wanna keep flying with you and I wanna see sights we've never seen before!"  
  
Haruka straightened his back, his grip on his broom loosened.  
  
"What?-"  
  
"On count to three!", Matsuoka yelled at Makoto, who was startled at the sudden calling. He brought the stop watches in his hand and waved.  
  
"One!"  
  
Haruka grabbed his broom again tightly. He felt a loud pounding in his chest, but tried to focus on keeping his posture.  
  
"Two!"  
  
His legs tensed as he readied himself for jumping, side-eyeing Matsuoka for the quickest moment possible; still, he couldn't see over the beaming smile as a reply.  
  
"Three!"

He pushed off the ground as powerful as he could, feeling the strength of the sweep under his legs quickly taking over, knowing it came from the broom itself.  
  
The first thing he acknowledged was that he had a head start.

  
Everything beneath them turned smaller and unimportant within seconds, Haruka only focused on keeping balance and his lead as they turned faster and faster, the wind howling against his cheek, ruffling through his hair violently.  
  
The first curve came up, right before a tall fir tree lining the forest surrounding them like a shield.

  
Haruka pressed against his broom as he leaned himself in the curve, twisting aside, seeing everything crooked but nothing came in focus. Everything around him was a blur of blue and green, only a flash of red caught his attention.  
  
Matsuoka caught up and, Haruka barely had time to realize, overtook him.  
  
The distance between them widened dangerously, and the sight of Matsuoka's back only made Haruka's body buzz with energy.  
  
_'Faster'_  
  
He pressed his entire torso flush against the broom, stretching his hands as much as he could.  
  
_'I wont' lose to him'_  
  
His ears and hands screamed with the cold and harsh wind, but his mind was louder. His heartbeat was louder.  
  
_'I'll catch up'_  
  
Another curve followed and Haruka knew there was only one left.  
  
' _I will win'_  
  
Matsuoka's face came closer again, he even saw how he looked back in disbelief for a second.

The buzzing feeling in his chest turned up, heavier, stronger.

He felt as if he was pulled by a string tied to his broom, as if flying closer and faster than Matsuoka was everything that mattered - and in that moment, it did.

The last curve came closer.

The wind blew against his face, but Haruka knew. He knew it wouldn't be smart to fight against the wind, it was stronger anyway.  
  
For a moment then, he closed his eyes. He felt the blowing and howling wind around him, how he broke through it, how it accepted him and let him pass. Haruka felt it rustle against his body, how it went through the ragged branches of his broom.  
  
He felt how it suddenly changed it's direction. He followed it in the same motion as he leaned into the curve with a less daring angle and it encouraged him to fly even faster through the sky, swim through the air, through the core of the wind and beyond.

  
The wind was alive.

  
As Matsuoka came closer and closer, the ground also did. He barely recognised the waving figures of Makoto and Matsuoka-san.

Haruka grazed his knee as they clumsily landed, not used to this speed and movements of the broom against such strength.  
  
Both were panting harshly, Haruka's legs trembled. His heart was still pounding loudly with excitement.

Matsuoka didn't even bother with standing up, he just collapsed on the grass and rolled on his back.  
  
Matsuoka-san came to them as fast as she could with Gou in her arms, making sure they didn't hurt themselves and lecturing Matsuoka about flying too fast and reckless, sounding more severe than she was.

Haruka sat down to, trying to catch his breath. They both looked up at Makoto when they remembered why they were racing from the start.  
  
Makoto's face twisted in discomfort, looking at the stop watches in his hands and then up again. "I think it's a tie."  
  
Haruka and Matsuoka both stared at him.  
  
"You _think_?", Matsuoka repeated with a sharp voice. "What do you mean, you think?"  
  
"It's...", Makoto stuttered, apparently feeling guilty. "It's hard to tell, you were both so fast and I..."  
  
"It's okay", Haruka said then and both looked at him with small surprise. "I guessed it was a tie, too."  
  
Matsuoka fell back on the grass with a loud groan, fighting with exhaustion and displeasure. "We'll have to race again", he groaned. "A tie won't do it."  
  
Haruka let out a huff. He was exhausted as well. "Not now."  
  
Matsuoka sat up, sincerity and tension written all over his face. "We have to! This is our last chance!"  
  
Haruka stood up. He felt the wind waft around him, gentle and whispering this time. He caught himself smiling softly.  
  
Matsuoka's expression shifted to shock and awe as Haruka offered him his hand.  
  
"No, it's not", he simply stated and pulled him up.

 

  
Even though Haruka was just as amazed as Makoto over his own, sudden decision, assuring Matsuoka that he really meant what he thought was something he deeply regretted as soon as Matsuoka jumped up and squeezed him in a tight, choking hug. He laughed in his ear too loudly.  
  
As they walked home, the brooms hanging over their chilled and bruised shoulders, Haruka only listened to easy chattering of Matsuoka-san and Matsuoka himself, Makoto talking still with both disbelief and happiness.  
  
Matsuoka ignored him as Haruka emphasised he would only go with him for the first year to learn the basics about wizardry and flying, he was way too busy complaining about how Haruka managed a tie with that old Shooting Star Gou never really used.  
  
Still, as they said goodbye to the Matsouka family and then to Makoto when their ways parted at last, Haruka couldn't help but feel...content.  
  
And, if he'd have to admit it, a little excited, too.  
  
"One year", he said to himself that night and nodded in confirmation.

 

_One year._

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: wait, there's also magic in this.


	3. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first year in Mahoutokoro offers Haruka a sight he never knew he needed to see.

Chatter, chatter, endless chatter rose and sank around him like crashing waves, numbing his ears, blurring his vision.

It was stifling and it was loud, unknown faces surrounded him, glowing with excitement and anticipation, voices pattering in haste and high pitch, unbelieving of their future at Mahoutokoro. They were gathering at the end of long, crooked stone steps, leading high up into the mountains, flanked by talldark trees.  
Haruka stood next to his grandmother, who kept holding his hand tightly the entire time, even as she greeted familiar residents and their children. Her hand felt warm and secure, only to emphasize how cold and shaky his own hand felt.  
  
The past weeks had gone by like a second, although Matsuoka had made sure to take away the rest of his nerves every day and night. True, he did calm down eventually, mostly because Haruka had told him he would change his mind when Matsuoka kept shaking his shoulder crying ‘We’re really going, can you believe it, I can’t believe we’re really going!’, but he never stopped bouncing with impatience and restlessness, which had certainly rubbed off on Haruka as well. It was a relief to know his grandmother and Makoto were by his side the moment after he decided to go to Mahoutokoro for at least the first year. As Makoto grew up in a wizard family of many generations, he knew exactly where to buy the needed supplies, and had gladly agreed on accompanying them to the little stores hidden between farmer markets and family restaurants. Haruka had been surprised he had never noticed them before, even though most of them hung “closed” or “out of business” signs in their dust covered shop windows. The owners were mostly old men, quiet and canny, and strangely familiar with his name. His grandmother must have had been here before, maybe told them about her grandson who would finally follow her beloved late husband to the hidden school of magic in Hokkaido.  
At least they had patiently taken their time to find a fitting cauldron, crystal phials, brushes, ink, and all sorts of utensils Haruka would never have thoughthe would need for learning wizardry. He got everything he needed though, except for his uniform and his wand, which would be given him in Mahoutokoro.  
  
“Ah, there they are”, his grandmother then said, squeezing his hand a little tighter and Haruka looked up, awaken from reminiscing.  
  
He saw Makoto’s green eyes first, gently and sheepishly pushing his way through the crowd, apologizing with a raised hand when he accidentally bumped into someone. Haruka took a deep breath and held it when he noticed a flash of red right behind him.  
“Nanaseee~!”, Matsuoka ran past Makoto and nearly knocked Haruka over with his one-arm hug around his shoulders, laughing loudly with a flushed face buzzing with excitement. Haruka took his time to catch the breath Matsuoka pressed out of his lungs and tried to push him off his shoulder, as a disturbing warmth rose from his chest up to his face.  
  
_So annoying._

“Knock it off”, Haruka mumbled and shrug his shoulders as another failed attempt to get rid of him, only making Matsuoka hug him tighter with a snicker.  
  
“Aw, come on Nanase! Don’t tell me you’re not even a little excited! You look like you couldn’t even sleep last night!”, he chuckled some more when a groan left Haruka’s lips, who felt his eyes burning even more. While he had to admit that he didn’t sleep well last night, it was obvious that it hadn't been because he couldn’t wait to see his new school. It was just change, and change always made him feel uneasy and restless.  
  
Still, he couldn’t deny that the fluttering feeling in his chest while he looked up the old, moss covered steps leading into a misty nothing didn't feel all that bad. Curiosity slowly took over worry and he asked himself more than just how quickly the days would pass, how hard the classes would going to be and how much of a nuisance Matsuoka could really turn into. His mind wandered to the mysterious building, probably only a few steps away,ancient walls and generations of wisdom and tradition, breathing with whispers of a world he assumed to be part of fairy tales and legends until now.  
Somehow, his hands felt less cold now, and he was glad to see an encouraging smile on Makoto’s face, as if he read his mind again like the countless times before.  
  
“I wonder what kind of wand you’ll get”, he then said with a softness in his voice Haruka didn’t expect given the fact that they wouldn’t see each other for months for the very first time of their friendship.  
  
“Same!”, Matsuoka chided in, almost choking Haruka with his grip. “I can’t wait to get mine!”  
  
“Now, now, Rin”, Matsuoka-san finally managed to make her way through the crowd, an exhausted smile on her lips and a dozing Gou in her arms. “I’m sure Haruka-kun is nervous enough, calm down a little”.

She smiled in amusement at his frown after he finally let go of Haruka, and gently ruffled his maroon locks with one hand, still supporting her daughter with the other.  
The long drive to Hokkaido clearly started to take its toll, Haruka thought, who noticed how the wrinkles around his grandmother’s eyes appeared to be a little deeper than usual. Matsuoka’s mother had offered to take Haruka with her – happily encouraged by Matsuoka himself-but his grandmother had insisted on saying goodbye to him. Maybe, and that was just an assumption Haruka came up with, she hoped to see a little of the school too, as she only had heard stories of its beauty and secrets from her husband. Sadly, and that wasn’t much to Haruka’s surprise, the foggy end of the stone steps was everything the children’s families got to see, as the school was protected by several old and strong charms to keep trespassers and especially muggles away. As soon as a muggle would try take the first step, he would remember a terribly important errant to do and would immediately turn around. At least that was what Makoto told him.  
Suddenly his grandmother placed one hand on Haruka’s shoulder and gently nudged him towards the steps again.  
A man was standing there whom Haruka hadn't noticed before. He probably should have though, as he was wearing a black uniform, similar to a haori. The shirt underneath was white, buttoned on both sides at the collar. He looked stern, but not unfriendly, as he greeted the crowd of curious faces with a gentle bow.  
His voice sounded deep and low as he welcomed them, and it easily reached the entire crowd without a greater volume.  
  
“My name is Nakano Shinobu, I am a calligraphy teacher of Mahoutokoro and it’s my honor to guide you through your first day. You will now follow me through the first pagoda and will receive your uniform and wand shortly after. The welcoming ceremony will start soon.”  
  
Without any further words, he stepped aside with another slight bow towards the crowd, and waited patiently for the children to say goodbye to their parents and family.  
For a second time today, Haruka felt like all air left his body as his grandmother squeezed him in a tight hug, rubbing his back with a little sniffing sound.  
Although it had adorned her face all day long until now, her smile suddenly grew sad and she blinked faster, as if to wipe away tears away without Haruka noticing them.  
Her blue eyes shone with pure love and pride as she caressed his cheek with one hand and still held his shoulder tight with the other.  
  
“Haruka...”, her voice came a little shaky. “Have fun. Enjoy your time in your new school as much as you can. Make sure to write me, I want to know all of it”, she kissed his cheek slightly before she returned to look at him for the last time. “We will see each other in summer again, Haru. Get along with Matsuoka-kun and be careful when you’re flying.” Haruka didn’t flinch when she gently ruffled his hair, her quiet sobs still accompanying it.  
  
Matsuoka’s mother seemed to have said something similar, because as Haruka glanced other to him, he gave a tottery nod in his direction. Yet he seemed to focus more on fighting back his tears upon saying goodbye to his mother and little sister for a long time. After hugging both of them again, he joined Haruka’s side with a sigh, his brows furrowed. He wanted to be brave in front of his little sister.  
Haruka smiled secretly, although the lump in his throat wouldn’t go away even as he swallowed thickly. No tears formed in his eyes, but he felt them burning nonetheless. Nakano-sensei, Haruka guessed he should call him that from now on, was still standing silently next to the stone steps, not moving an inch.  
Yet parents and families somehow sensed it was time for them to leave and let their children enter the mists beyond the stairs, the mysterious ground of Mahoutokoro.  
  
The two boys all waved for the last time and when their mother and grandmother turned around, Haruka felt a little tug at his sleeve.  
Matsuoka still looked stern and determined, not crossing his gaze but grabbing onto his jacket. Haruka didn’t jerk his arm away, but motioned towards Nakano-sensei who asked them to form a line in pairs of twos.  
It was a little odd and the most obvious thing at the same time how Matsuoka followed Haruka without even asking and joined his side again in the line, behind two bouncy and shrieking girls, pointing into the mist before them, loudly wondering if they have to pass a test or something before they can enter.  
Haruka crunched his nose. He didn’t study for any sort of test and as he looked at Matsuoka in question, he only shook his head in confusion.  
So he shrugged, guessing they’d find out either way, and waited for his future classmates to complete forming the line, howling loudly, pushing, yelling at each other for stepping on their feet. He huffed.  
Even a magic school was, in the end, just another school, he guessed.  
Haruka then noticed how the girls in front of him bumped each others shoulders but clasped their hands tightly together, laughing and giggling all the time. Hopefully, he thought, they didn’t expect all of them to hold hands.  
Matsuoka still sniffled a little beside him, his brave front crumbling after his family’s leaving and the nervousness tugging at his excitement.  
  
He himself was also in need of some distraction though, so he asked if he knew what exactly they would do on their first day.  
Matsuoka looked up in surprise, but his lips formed a thin line as his whole body gave an uncertain motion.  
  
“I’m not sure. Mum went to Mahou too, but she doesn’t remember much from her first day…”  
  
Haruka gave a little nod. He guessed that much, Matsuoka would have babbled all the time about it if he knew anything more.  
  
“What do you _want_ to do then?”, Haruka added, still unsure if this was the best way to hold a conversation, and even if it was, was it the best way to distract Matsuoka?  
  
He sighed. Stuff like this had never been his strong side.  
Matsuoka’s expression lit up a little at that and he smiled as he responded: “I wanna see our dorms! And of course get my wand and uniform, I hope it fits ‘cus I’ve grown little I think, and I wanna try out some spells and see if there’s a Quidditch team for first years, I think they’re more like clubs at Mahou, at least that’s what Mum told me, and-”  
  
Haruka silently scolded himself for opening that door as Matsuoka’s patter flooded his ears for what seemed like an eternity before he shut down at a quick hand wave by Nakano-sensei, who finally thought he should interfere with the children’s struggle to stand side by side in peace. His scoff was nearly inaudible as he told them to follow him closely, and exhorted them with a severe tone to behave once they crossed school grounds.  
Their march on the old and crooked moose-covered steps resounded dully and felt a lot longer than Haruka would have expected. Dark, nearly black, thin and tall trees passed his eyes in a blur. It was oddly quiet around them, no birds were chirping and even the rustling branches of the trees seemed to make no sound at all as the wind brushed through them.  
  
The mist got thicker as they ascended further and further, sometimes Haruka couldn’t even see the trees anymore. Their steps got more cautious with time and sometimes children slipped, but never fell.  
Haruka huffed, his chest and legs were starting to hurt, his throat went dry. He wished he would have brought something to drink with him, all his belongings were (hopefully) already in Mahou and therefore yet out of reach. It was only a second before Matsuoka let go of his jacket that he noticed he had held onto him until now. His gaze was focused on the end of the stairs, as Haruka looked up, which seemed to be only a few steps away. Their surroundings were now so foggy, he couldn’t even make out the ground following the end of the stairs.  
His heart pounded loudly as the nervous chatter around him rose again, the girls in front of them stopped giggling and desperately clasped their hands together, sometimes whispering about how they heard or saw something beyond the fog.

They all went silent after they left the stairs behind them and passed, only barely noticing it, an invisible barrier leading them into the world of the intangible, of ancient traditions and generations of wizardry and witchcraft. They stood in awe of the sight before them, a tall, old and battered looking gate. There was no path leading towards it, just the light brown ground, smooth and clean around them, soothing their steps and dusting up a little. As they passed it, Nakano-sensei explained that this was the main gate leading into Mahoutokoro, the Southern Main Entrance called Nandaimon, the oldest structure on the whole campus. Haruka felt the weight of age of it as he passed the gate, but he couldn’t ignore how Matsuoka grabbed onto his sleeve again and he shot him a questioning glance. Matsuoka only chewed on his lip, looking up to him, wearing an expression Haruka wasn’t sure what to make of it. His cheeks were a little tinted, but Haruka guessed it was caused by his nervous attitude growing with each step.  
They were now walking on a graveled path leading to another gate, but this one looked different. It was _huge_ and imposing, the dark roof curving smoothly at the edges, simple white and red fabric for decent decoration paling next to the black wood even more. The Choumon, as Nakano-sensei told them, the Central Gate, leading into the inner complex of the school. Matsuoka’s grab went tighter.  
  
Reality seemed to kick in again as they passed the gate and the sun shone brightly above the school grounds of Mahoutokoro, wide and full of students in white and teachers in black or gray uniforms. Only now the sounds of easy chatter and laughter poured over them, like something held all sorts of sound inside of the school grounds, even though the gates weren’t closed off.  
  
The inner complex was- Haruka needed to admit- impressive. The light brown ground offered a soft contrast to tall and neatly kept cherry trees in full bloom lining the stone paths leading to huge, wide buildings, the tallest one in the middle of the school grounds (the main pagoda and library as they were told) gaining well deserved attention for a height of nearly fifty meters into the sky. The curved roofs looked a little crooked, but unimposing nonetheless. Matsuoka couldn’t keep his mouth shut, either to shout and point to a certain building or to just gawp at the beauty and impressive size of Mahoutokoro (and of course the ‘awesome’ trees all around them, as Matsuoka seemed to have grown some sort of affinity towards them). Soft and rich green adorned the sand of the ground as they were led to the northern part of the inner complex, trees and bushes gently whistled in the wind. Some of the older students around them greeted them, some only looked over in curiosity or made a face upon seeing unknown faces out of their age. Haruka noticed how they all wore neatly buttoned white uniforms and light reddish brown shoes, some were even holding long, thin wands in their hands. Something twitched inside Haruka’s chest upon seeing them, like a tiny part in his brain added another piece to the puzzle of a world where something abstract as wizardry belonged into reality, into his world now. Or rather _he_ belonged into this new world.  
A few of his classmates shrieked and shouted excitedly as they saw some older boys shoot red sparks at each other, boldly laughing and running away as a teacher espied them.  
  
“So cool”, Matsuoka whispered beside Haruka, his eyes going round and shimmering again.  
  
Haruka couldn’t really see what’s cool about red sparks and getting into trouble, but he let it slide- at least Matsuoka wasn’t crying anymore. He’d been marveling his future classmates as soon as they stepped onto school grounds, but seeing actual magic, even if it were only red sparks, seemed to spur him on even more.  
In the north was the Great Lecture Hall, the Daikoudou, a very huge classroom as Haruka got it through the loud chatter of the other kids, mostly used for important exams. He only gave it a short glance, but Matsuoka even gawped at its simplicity and length. Behind the Hall, stone stairs led up into the mountains, shielded by dark green trees. Nakano-sensei explained how it led to the shrine of Empress Suiko along with the Imperial Family and was without any exception off limits for students. Haruka and Matsuoka were both busier with all the new impressions around them than listening to the teacher talking about the dining hall, class rooms and sports areas in the east.  
Only after they passed the second pagoda, a lot more colorful than the previous ones, as Nakano-sensei mentioned that the path from the pagoda led into the hills and towards the Baseball and Quidditch pitches.  
  
Matsuoka’s eyes did the shining again as he heard the word ‘Quidditch’ and pinched Haruka’s shoulder with way too much force; Haruka could only flinch. His shoulder nudges and fidgeting shouted ‘Did you hear that? Quidditch, he said Quidditch pitches!’, for sure. But the teacher didn’t include the pitches into his tour, so they needed to postpone that for now as he led them into the western part of the school. The buildings of the students’ accommodation appeared to be way too small for such a large number of students of all ages, but as soon as they entered it, the room inside seemed to be ten times larger.  
Nakano-sensei stopped and so did the students, only to hear how they should now separate and visit their dorms, as their new uniform would be waiting there, a necessity for participating in the Welcoming Ceremony in the dining hall in around an hour. They wouldn’t see all of Mahoutokoro today, as they should get used to their new home and school first and start with classes tomorrow. With another bow, which most of the students returned, he left them alone in the hall. The girls and boys quickly set out, either going left or right. The boys found their names on lists next to their rooms at pace, only separated by thin fusuma doors and, much to Matsuoka’s relief, Haruka and he would be sharing a room with two other boys.  
  
“This must be fate!”, Matsuoka chuckled with a bump against Haruka’s shoulder. Haruka thought how it was more how close their names were in alphabetical order, but again, he kept his mouth shut.  
  
Minami Kazuki, a friendly and open boy, and the rather shy looking Maro Akemi were already awaiting their approaching new roommates. Haruka stiffly greeted them, whereas Matsuoka laughed a little awkwardly while rubbing his neck (a habit of him, it seemed), but said hello as well. With an exhausted grunt Haruka sat down on the floor, a simple mat giving space for a few desks and likely four futons which were stashed away for now. He gave the room a decently curious inspection as he crossed his arms on his knees and listened to Matsuoka and Minami talk about the rest of their first day. All these new faces and sights surely were tedious, as exciting it was. Seeing his new room only made him miss his old one, _his_ room back in Iwatobi. He didn’t expect to feel homesick so soon already.

 

* * *

 

  
The ceremony wasn’t as stressful as Haruka had expected it to be. Although it was packed with young and older students and the volume around him was nearly unbearable, the warm words of welcome and encouragement spoken by the headmaster calmed him down a little. Matsuoka mostly fidgeted around, sometimes pulling at his new white uniform ( _‘perfect fit!’_ ) or clapping his shoes together. Haruka guessed he was nervous about what would follow shortly after. He himself didn’t waste much thought about it, his mood only lightened as he spotted japanese cuisine at dinner later, while Matsuoka only kept chewing his bottom lip instead of his curry rice. Minami and even Maro, who decided to eat with their new roommates, tried to start a conversation with both him and Haruka, but due to different reasons, it wasn’t all that rich in content.  
  
When they were called out at noon to gather in front of the Daikoudou, Matsuoka was even more of a wreck than before. Nervous seemed the tugs at his white gakuzan, nerve-wrecking were the constant and repeating questions he bombarded Haruka with, either what Haruka thinks what kind of wand he’ll get or ‘which wands were the coolest’. As he had absolutely no clue about wands whatsoever, apart from knowing they’re made out of wood and for performing spells, he couldn’t really do anything but shrug. He almost sighed of relief when it was Matsuoka’s turn to follow one of the teachers dressed in black who were supervising the first years getting their wands. Upon seeing the twisting and sometimes even pale looking faces, Haruka couldn’t help but wonder. Besides the itching inside of him caused by unfamiliar rooms, faces and bedsheets, apart from his home, grandmother and Makoto, he couldn’t say he was upset nor exhilarated about being in this new school and he didn’t even bother worrying about his wand. He knew, whatever he’ll get would be something he’d be okay with, since Matsuoka spent most of his free time either rambling about different Quidditch techniques or extraordinary tricks and stunts for chasers (with ridiculous names), wondering about what position would be suitable for Haruka (who never actually agreed on joining a Quidditch club, as he recalled), or if these topics were dwelled on too much for Haruka to keep a deadpan face, explaining Haruka how the wand chose the wizard and not vice versa. Which made the fact all more confusing that Matsuoka kept worrying about it, kept asking Haruka useless questions and halfway answered them himself.  
  
It was one of these moments where Haruka needed to learn that how similar he and Matsuoka might were when it came to flying or swimming, that when it came to anything else, they were on completely different levels.  
Or rather on the same level, but on opposite sides, Haruka silently needed to admit. He needed to give Matsuoka that much, for all the moments he shattered Haruka’s picture of him of a confident, straightforward person whenever he decided to turn into a container full of emotions overflowing and nearly drowning anything or anyone next to him, Matsuoka still had something Haruka didn’t. He couldn’t really put a finger on it, but it was the way he spoke about his dreams, how he spoke about his father or about Quidditch, about flying with Haruka. He noticed the same tone in his softening voice when he saw the first bloom of cherry trees, wondering about if there were any in Mahou. Haruka needed to hide a snort whenever he dreamingly sighed in sight of pink, fluffy petals on dark branches gently whipping in the wind as they followed Nakano-sensei over the campus, relishing the simple yet astonishing beauty. He couldn’t really help it, wasn’t it the complete opposite of his first impression of Matsuoka.  
This thought also made him wonder some more, wondering about how much he actually knew about Matsuoka, not only about his dreams and wishes, but his fears and likings as well. It occurred to him then that Matsuoka’s idea of himself may not be the most accurate one too. He guessed that in the glances he sometimes ‘secretly’ gave Haruka, all bouncy and bubbly, keeping his mouth shot with an expression similar to hiding back a barking laughter, shrugging him off whenever Haruka couldn’t put up with pretending being oblivious about it.  
  
It made Haruka wonder, how it could have been that even though he wrecked his mind all morning and probably all the week before that too about Mahou in general and especially his wand, that he wore the same expression of dreamy thoughts and hidden delight as he ran towards Haruka, carrying a small object with both hands close to his chest.  
  
“What did you get?”, was the first thing Haruka understood of his gasping shouts, too busy with looking for a hint in Haruka’s hands or face instead of catching his breath. With a shrugging motion, Haruka pulled it out of his hip pocket and showed him a dark black, thin and long wand, a little shiny apart from the haft, which appeared a little thicker and of rougher material.  
  
“It’s black walnut”, Haruka mumbled upon Matsuoka’s gawping, already beaming again.  
  
“It looks super cool!”, he called, pressing his own wand, closer to his chest as he bent forward to see it better. “I think black walnut is good! I read it somewhere…”  
  
Haruka nodded and motioned Matsuoka to sit down on a near bench on the open campus. The sun began to set and the lazy comfy feeling came like a gentle wave along with the deep orange glow of the sky as they sat down. They probably could have talked about this easier in their dorm, but somehow Haruka guessed Matsuoka wouldn’t wait that long.  
  
“The teacher said it suits me. She said it’s good material”, Haruka nodded again as Matsuoka sheepishly reached for it, not yet touching his wand before Haruka allowed him to.  
  
“It’s nice”, Matsuoka repeated as he touched the smooth surface, following the slightly uneven form. “Suits your hair”, he teased, which Haruka resisted rolling his eyes to.  
  
Matsuoka straightened his back as he grinned, still hiding his own wand for some reason. “What’s the core?”  
  
The line of Haruka’s lips turned a little thinner. “Kelpie hair.”  
  
Matsuoka’s form slumped altogether as his expression changed, like somehow his giddy mood has been sucked out of his face. Haruka had expected this, he knew how curious Matsuoka was about wand material and cores and would surely be aware of how kelpie hair was known to be a weak core material.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Haruka sighed a little. He looked at the wand in his hand, let it roll around between his fingers. “It’s okay”, he then said and smiled a little. “I don’t mind.”  
  
Matsuoka looked up in surprise. “Really? How come? I mean…”, he looked away, obviously uncertain of what to say. “Why-“  
  
Haruka shrugged again, looking at his wand without any doubt or disappointment. “It likes water.”  
  
Silence fell upon them, and then a loud snorting laughter, making Matsuoka’s whole body shudder in chuckles.  
  
“You’re so weird”, he giggled, even after Haruka glared at him with a pout. “’Could have said it’s cool or badass ‘cus it’s a sea-horse demon or something…but you gotta go with ‘it likes water’”, he sniffled and leaned back on one hand while holding his wand with the other sighing in relief. “That’s so you, Nanase. It’s perfect for you.”  
  
Haruka grunted, tempted to just leave and go to their dorm early, just to get his pearls of laughter out of his mind. But he stayed, for as annoying Matsuoka could get, Haruka couldn’t deny his curiosity.  
  
“It’s a sea-horse _spirit_ ”, he stated with closed eyes and a huff as he put his wand away again. “Show me yours.”  
  
Matsuoka visibly tensed, his smile froze as he leaned forward again, avoiding Haruka’s calm, curious look. “It’s…it’s not-“, he mumbled as he rubbed his neck again. Haruka couldn’t make out what it was (or wasn’t), as Matsuoka’s voice trailed off into nothing.  
  
“You don’t have to show me if you don’t want to”, Haruka said then, with a motion of his shoulders that should have come across as indifference.  
  
But, after another sigh and still looking away, Matsuoka held his wand directly under Haruka’s chin and opened his hand, revealing a light brown wand, a little shorter and thicker than Haruka’s own, but evenly shaped and with a finer worked haft. It was only then that Haruka noticed how small forms were carved out of the wood near the end of the haft, all shaped like single cherry blossom petals, adorning the wand like they were floating towards the tip. They were a nuance lighter than the rest of the wood and were obviously the result of diligent handcraft.  
Haruka made a noise then, nothing distinguishable, more like a hum. It still made Matsuoka look up and retract his hand.  
  
“It’s girly, right?”, Matsuoka bit out, his form curving a little as he looked at it with his chin on one hand. “Maybe the wand thought I was a girl ‘cus of my name.”  
  
Now Haruka definitely made a sound of amusement, to which Matsuoka’s face tinted. “It’s not funny”, he scoffed and turned away by a few inches.  
  
“I don’t think it’s girly”, Haruka huffed. “I think it suits you too.”  
  
Matsuoka didn’t face him completely again, but turned his face a little, still with pink cheeks. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”, he asked with a miffed tone.  
  
Haruka couldn't do much more than stare, because how could he react so offended over something so little.  
  
“You like these, don’t you?”, came his response in a mutter with a gaze over the petal carvings, feeling Matsuoka shift a little beside him, sighing something out that sounded like ‘so what’. Haruka guessed it would be for the best to change the tone a little.  
“What’s it made of?”  
  
Matsuoka snorted. “Cherry tree wood of course”, he finally turned around again, but still fidgeted around in an abashed manner. “With dragon heart string.”  
  
Haruka blinked at him for a few seconds, unsure of how to react. ‘Dragon heart’ sounded impressive, although he wasn’t sure what it meant to have it as a core. The wood on the other hand tugged at his memory for some reason and his brows furrowed a little in concentration as he tried to recall what either Matsuoka or Makoto had told him about it.  
  
“It’s rare”, he then said, surprising himself nearly as much as Matsuoka. “Isn’t it?”  
  
Matsuoka blinked several times, blank expression and mouth halfway open. It still caught him off guard how quickly Matsuoka’s face and mood could change, and without him doing anything more than asking a simple question.  
  
“Well, yeah”, he replied, tone still sheepish and hand glued to his neck. “It’s…like…something really _special_ around here…they only give them to very…if they think you’re very…good. With charms and all…”, Matsuoka mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else. “I…I don’t really know why it chose me. But-“, he chewed his lip again, flashing a quick look over where Haruka kept his wand hidden. “I’m kinda nervous about it”, he laughed a little awkwardly and ruffled his hair. “Like I need to be extra super good when we start classes or they’ll take it away again, you know?”  
  
His tone turned thin again, waving a little at the end. The thought of Matsuoka’s hesitation swirled around in Haruka’s head, asking himself if it was because he feared Haruka might get jealous or if it would come across as boasting. He wasn’t sure which one sounded more ridiculous to his ears.  
So he raised an eyebrow in question as he stood up, feeling Matsuoka’s eyes on him. “It chose you. It’s meant for you”, was his simple reply.  
  
The sky had turned into a dull red-orange, with a promise of the beginning evening.  
He still felt Matsuoka’s gaze on him as they slowly headed towards their dorm again and as he dared to look for the tiniest of moments backwards, he realized there weren’t only some expressions of Matsuoka he couldn’t quite interpret, but even only hints of a smile that played with the corner of his lips.  
  
An impatient shake of his shoulder woke him up that night, pulling him out of a slumber that felt light and uneasy even without disturbing him. He lazily blinked until his vision turned somewhat sharp again, even though he still could only made out shapes in the dark of the night, despite the off putting snoring Minami was filling the room with.  
Of course Matsuoka was the one who woke him up.  
  
“What?”, Haruka groaned with a raspy voice and rubbed his eye as he sat up a little. After a few moments, his eyes adjusted to the dark and he noticed the twist of Matsuoka’s mouth, eyes full of discomfort.  
  
“You didn’t say it yet”, he whispered. “That you wanna join the Quidditch club with me.”  
  
Haruka felt his jaw tense as the gears in his mind tried to figure out why in the world Matsuoka seemed to be unable to wait until the morning with this.  
  
“That’s why you woke me up?”, he tried his best to not only keep his voice down, but also to keep the cold out of his tone, but it was difficult to react with patience to someone as irritating as this boy.  
  
“I’m just a little...”, Matsuoka started, guilt starting to seep into his expression. “I really want you to, but I don’t wanna force you…it’s just…”, he looked down and then finally into his eyes again. “I really want you to!”  
  
Haruka’s sigh turned into a groan as he completely sat up. “I told you last time that it wasn’t the _last_ time. That’s why I…we have flying lessons soon anyway, right?”  
Matsuoka shrugged and his hands gripped his futon a little tighter. “Yeah but that doesn’t mean you’re joining the club! We’re not in a team in flying lessons!”  
Patience wasn’t something Haruka could offer when it came to Matsuoka’s irrationality, especially not at two in the morning, so his tone changed into something more direct.  
  
“Can’t you join it by yourself?”  
  
Matsuoka pushed himself of the futon, both offended and panicked. “No! It needs to be _with you_!”  
  
“Shh!”, alerted to the sound footsteps outside, Haruka motioned him to be quiet. He really didn’t look forward to getting into trouble on his first day. “Fine, I’ll think about it, just be quiet. But don’t make a fuss about it.”  
  
Matsuoka’s expression looked like sunray got shot right into his heart and he tried his best to stifle his giggles into his pillow as he teetered his legs in joy.  
  
“Promise?”  
  
Haruka groaned, but went silent as Minami did so as well in his sleep and turned over on his tousled futon.  
  
A deep exhale left his mouth before he sighed: “Promise.”

* * *

  
  
It was in a twisted way amusing how perfectly it fitted that almost exactly one year later in late March, Haruka got awoken the same way by the same person.  
Only this time, the face of said person was set in determination as he lifted a finger to his mouth, ignored Haruka’s daring glare, and jerked his head to the window next to them.  
  
“We’re gonna sneak out!”  
  
Haruka was somehow sure when he said ‘sneak out’ he didn’t actually mean ‘fall out of a window and land face first in dirt’, but as he listened to Matsuoka swear and wipe the sand out of his eyes while they quietly made their way around the corners of a sleeping Mahoutokoro in the middle of the night, who was he to judge his plans; whatever the goal behind this stupid attempt of being young rebels in a boarding school was anyway. Apart from a certain way of getting detention.  
The soothing dark lay like a blanket over the quiet school grounds, only sometimes disturbed by the glow of a lantern, a sign that at least the caretakers were on duty, looking out for disobedient students just like them.  
Matsuoka seemed to have thought about this as well as he carefully tugged Haruka at his sleeve when they needed to stop or quickly run to their next hideout whenever they were out of sight. He kept ignoring Haruka’s question about what was going on in the first place the entire way.  
Matsuoka just stuck stubbornly to his plan; and whatever it was, it seemed to be important enough to risk getting into trouble right before their first year ended.  
Haruka harrumphed quietly as Matsuoka stopped again, making him think of how he kept getting Haruka into all sorts of trouble and uncomfortable situations, dragging him into mess after mess. Sure, Haruka admitted, most of the time it was exciting and even kind of fun and he wouldn’t want it to be quiet all the time, but a peaceful moment now and then would be nice. They had these too, when they sat under the cherry trees, unnaturally long in bloom caused by an old, ancient charm, mostly eating lunch and talking about their day. As first years, they shared all classes together and of course Matsuoka wouldn’t miss a chance sitting next to Haruka, although he slowly made friends among his other students as well. He was, other than Haruka, open and giddy, laughing and funny most of the time. Also very helpful and diligent. Haruka wasn’t any of that and even though Matsuoka must have met cooler and interesting kids, he never stopped being Haruka’s friend for one second.  
A heavy sigh parted Haruka’s lips as they passed the Lecture Hall.  
  
Yes.  
  
After all these months of sleeping together, eating breakfast and lunch together, sharing classes and helping each other study and doing homework (surprisingly they had even more homework than in their old school), Haruka couldn’t help but seeing Matsuoka as his friend, even if the thought sounded odd and alien to himself. Despite his loud and beaming nature, despite his ‘Morning, Nanseee~!’ (why did he have to be a morning person as well), and even his never-ending annoying begging and pressing Haruka into something he never thought he would have tried by himself, Matsuoka was always…there.  
He was there on their first day in Charms classes, when they actually performed their first ones (or tried to, rather, feeling just the surge coming through his arm right into the wand was shocking and weird and he almost jerked his hand away), even though Matsuoka yelled in his ear because he ‘totally saw the tip of his wand light up for a second’, he was there when Haruka messed up his first try on incendio (he actually saved his bag from bursting into flames, teasing him how he way ‘only good with water’), he was there when he put way too many Billywig Stings into Haruka’s Wideeye Potion, at least trying to stay up with him when he couldn’t sleep for two nights straight.  
  
And just like Matsuoka was there for him, Haruka always tried to make up for it, be there for him as well. For as much Matsuoka tried to show off or act all tough and brave, Haruka learned to know the hints of his confidence crumbling into pieces, the chewing on his lips, the puffy eyes and tinting cheeks. So he tried to be there, when a Bouncing Bulb nearly hit his left eye in Herbology Class, calming him down from having nightmares for the fourth time after learning about Gargoyles in Defense Against the Dark Arts, tried to keep his boasting in Flying Class down because ‘they already raced and are the fastest fliers anyway’.  
Haruka kept his promise and joined together with Matsuoka the first-years Quidditch club, although they weren’t allowed to play actual matches on the pitch yet. It was fine, Matsuoka said, they could still practice playing in their position, or at least he could play as chaser as much as he liked. It took time, weeks, for Haruka to realize he found his place in Quidditch after all when he caught the golden snitch for the first time- because the coach explained how, despite his ‘interesting’ flying techniques, he did nothing that broke a single rule as he did so, even more so, he flew exceptionally swift and elegantly, like he just knew when to lean onto the broom more when the wind turned, for being just the smallest of a second faster than the object in front of his hand.  
It felt like a small victory that day, when Matsuoka hugged him tight with a laughter so giddy and relieved, his broom still hanging over his shoulder, covered in mud and sweat (which made it only a little gross), grabbing onto his arm holding the snitch, hoisting it up to let it shimmer and shine in the sun like it was a tiny sun itself, because for the very first time Haruka felt as Matsuoka’s equal in Quidditch, they were both equally important parts of the team now, working together, flying and playing together. Matsuoka still hit his shoulder when he tried to catch a quaffle, but he apologized every time and Haruka took it as a small toll for the grins and reddened cheeks he showed the entire time when they were playing, because that was when Matsuoka beamed of pure joy, and it was also partly because of himself. It was annoying to remember all the rules that came to Quidditch, but they were less annoying when Matsuoka explained them to him, eyes shimmery and expression glowing again because he loved and lived Quidditch with a passion that was addicting and enviable all the same. Haruka smiled to himself, thinking of how proudly Matsuoka told Makoto in their first summer break about their ‘adventures’ and ‘Quidditch matches’ which weren’t matches but it sounded cooler than ‘practice plays’.

There was something about flying with Matsuoka, Haruka thought as they began ascending small stone steps, something he never really grasped but knew it was there. Because they were here, in a new world where they belonged so perfectly, working together, goading each other on more and more, reaching and surpassing limits to see a world they haven’t seen before but needed to see together, because only when they were together they were truly _seeing_ it. And even though Haruka couldn’t quite understand, couldn’t figure out how it was possible to feel that way just because they were flying on brooms, he still thought how he slowly understood what Matsuoka meant with ‘sights’, like the world suddenly turned into something it wasn’t before. He always took something new from it, letting it sink into his still pounding heart even after his feet touched the ground several minutes ago, couldn’t ignore how hot his skin felt, how his legs felt like jelly and his shoulders tense as if they were playing for hours (they probably were but didn’t care).  
All of it made him think of how Matsuoka, even though he didn’t, he couldn’t intend to, he still set a spark in Haruka turning into a flame, gently keeping him warm whenever he only thought of him.  
He still wasn’t sure what it was, what _they_ were after all of this, but it was something he didn’t want to miss.  
  
He needed to catch his staggering breath as they finally reached the end of the steps, only hitching when he looked up and finally realized where they were.  
An old little shrine lay before them, barely visible in the dark of the night, visibly taken care of but still wearing the signs of age.  
  
Haruka hissed and grabbed onto his pajamas. “We’re not allowed to be here.”  
  
Matsuoka poked out his tongue in his cocky manner as he turned around. “Duh!”  
  
Haruka only stared after him as he easily made his way nearer to the shrine where they wouldn’t be in sight and obviously on forbidden ground and sat down on cold stone, jerking his head next to him, meaning he wanted Haruka to do the same.  
As he knew arguing was pointless, he sat down as well with an exhausted grunt, crossing his arms on his dust-covered knees.  
  
“Why are we here?”, Haruka then asked, watching Matsuoka pull out his wand out of a backpack he’d carried along with him and lit it up with Lumos.  
  
The furrow between his eyebrows only deepened when he heard him snort in amusement. “Isn’t it obvious? We finished our first year in Mahou, this night needs to be special!”, he added with a cheeky tone as he pulled out a thin blanket as well and covered his and Haruka’s legs with it. It was a cold night, even with April around the corner.  
  
Haruka huffed and saw how his breath formed a little cloud. “By getting into trouble in our last week?”, he asked deadpanned. Well it would be a unique memory at least.  
  
“Don’t worry about it”, he replied even-tempered, accidentally blinded Haruka with his wand for a second and then angled it away. “I’ll take the blame if we get caught!”  
  
Haruka scoffed, but shimmied more into the blanket as he felt his burning eyes aching, demanding for a sleep he probably won’t get any time soon. The sound of paper rustling beside him caught his attention then and he looked over to see Matsuoka pull out a pen and loose sheets of crumpled paper, an odd glimpse of resolve blinking in his eyes; if it wasn’t simply the reflection of his wand. Busy with marveling over what he was planning to do, or why they were here in the first place, he didn’t see all of the quick change of Matsuoka’s expression when he seemed to get ready to write something on the sheet on top, but then halted altogether.  
Haruka did notice him gulp though, resounding thick and accompanying a face of Matsuoka he didn’t often get a glimpse of, his eyes and brows serene and relaxed while his jaw seemed just like the revulsion into a taut atmosphere between them, tense and slightly shuddering.  
  
“What’s wrong?”, Haruka asked, who felt a lump in his throat forming he didn’t wish to ever feel again, but he couldn’t help the wave of concern washing over his senses as he saw how obviously Matsuoka fought with something too big for him to handle all by himself. He noticed how his fingers clenched and his knuckles turned a little lighter in the dark, only illuminated by the bright glowing tip of his wand.  
  
Matsuoka took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, as if he prepared himself like he always did before they wrote a test (although he always did fine, he studied much more than Haruka after all) or before he tried to perform a new charm for the first time (which mostly succeeded faster than Haruka’s attempts); only this time, Haruka felt a ‘Do your best’ or ‘Don’t overthink’ wouldn’t help him the slightest. So he stayed put, waiting for Matsuoka to be ready.  
The wind of an ending winter bristled through the thin branches of the trees around them and Haruka suppressed a shiver taking over his whole body and froze altogether as he heard Matsuoka speak.  
  
“Nanase…”, he muttered with a shaky voice, almost a whisper. His eyes were darted to the ground as he exhaled deeply again before he continued. “Do you like flying with me? Playing with me? In a team?”  
  
Haruka couldn’t help how one brow raised in doubt. “Yes?”, he replied warily, unsure of what this was about.  
  
Matsuoka clenched his hands into fists together now and it seemed like he had to overcome a huge obstacle inside of his mind before he managed to look up again. “Then…then I need you to promise me something.”  
  
Something inside of Haruka’s head throbbed, like a beginning headache. There was an uncertainty and determination at the same time in Matsuoka’s movements and whatever he really wanted to talk about, Haruka started to sense he wouldn’t like it one bit.  
  
“What?”, came his voice, louder in the silence of the night than he thought it would be.  
  
The throb turned into a pounding and he felt the cold running down his spine, doubting it was caused by the gentle wind of the mountains.  
  
“I…you need to promise me you keep flying. Even if…I can’t fly with you all the time”, Matsuoka said then and his eyes went puffy as Haruka felt ice hitting his chest like an arrow. He didn’t let him any time to react. “I won’t…I won’t be here after spring vacation.” He looked up and Haruka felt like he looked at him for the very first time that day.  
  
“I’m going to a school in Australia.”  
  
Bitterness took over him, his mind went blank, leaving nothing but that last sentence screaming loudly in his head.  
  
“Australia?”, he heard himself mutter. “You’re leaving?”  
  
A shaky nod followed as a reply. “They focus on Quidditch over there…and I really need to do this. I don’t know if I can make my dad’s dream come true but this…this could help me find out.”  
  
He didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to _think.  
  
_ “I would ask you to come with me…”, he barely noticed what Matsuoka said and how he shook his head. “I was lucky _I_ could go. The headmaster really helped me, contacting them, made me sound like I was ‘promising’. I guess _this_ ”, he held his wand a little higher, and the white light of the tip made the blossom petals look like teardrops. “Also helped me a lot, although it has nothing to do with my flying.”  
  
He gave a short, dry chuckle and it sounded like he forgot how to laugh. Haruka could say the same about his breathing right now while he was wondering how long Matsuoka knew this was going to happen without him telling about it.  
Did he think it was unnecessary? That it would be easier that way? To leave Haruka behind, leave him alone after he practically _forced_ him to go to this school at all?  
His shoulders tensed until they were aching and shuddering.  
  
“You’re leaving”, his throat felt like splinters of ice pierced it and he tried to swallow. “Will you…come back?”  
  
The sudden force of Matsuoka’s whole body throwing himself against Haruka’s came from nowhere and left him completely baffled, besides his sudden loss of a steady breathing rhythm. The embrace was tight and he felt the shivering cramps of Matsuoka crying into his shoulder like it was his own body, maybe because he was shaking too, a little.  
  
“ _Haru_ …”  
  
Haruka’s eyes widened as he heard the trembling whisper, muffled by his shoulder. The weight leaning against him and the wet tears soaking his pajamas turned into nothing as he realized, apart from accidental slips like calling the teacher ‘mum’ out of habit, this was the first time Matsuoka said his given name. Haruka felt his chest heat up with an unsettling warmth.  
  
“I want to…I want to come back”, he sobbed silently. “I told you I want to keep flying with you…seeing sights…I want to be there with you one day, as parts of the National Team!”  
His mouth opened in surprise and he couldn’t move a muscle when Matsuoka faced him again, dried tear stains visible on his reddened cheeks, lips quivering. Only his eyes, shining like the sun, gave away that a new fire came alive inside of him as he gripped Haruka’s shoulders.  
  
“If you want that too, promise me you will stay in Mahou…that you will keep flying. I will work hard, harder than anyone else other there, and nobody’s gonna be faster than us!”, the grip on his shoulder tightened. “So… _if_ you really want to…will you promise?”  
  
Haruka kept staring, staring at Matsuoka’s still slightly trembling frame, at his face with an odd lighting caused by the wand that fell down his lap but kept shining, his face so close to his own that he could see remnants of the tears in his long lashes, his maroon bangs tousled and messy standing up in odd directions making him look like he just stood up. But what caught Haruka’s attention most were again his eyes, although red and swollen, still fiery and so bright, much more blinding than any Lumos charm could ever manage to.  
  
A sudden thrill howled inside of his chest as he recalled how flying with Matsuoka felt, how it _really_ felt. A surge much more powerful than he ever felt before, a connection to the wind he only felt when they were together, a sudden wish to be faster, better, even though he never cared for these things, the wish to keep being able to fly at his side, as his equal, flying high above the ground away from everything.  
It was funny how, in the end, Haruka never wanted anything else but to be free, not tied to anything or anyone in this world, and how he knew now that what he needed to achieve just that was nothing else than another person, knowing it would feel meaningless and empty without.  
  
He gripped Matsuoka’s arm, still resting on his shoulder.

“I promise…Rin.”

 

 

They ended up getting detention the day before graduation when everyone else got to spend it in warm sunshine, feeling the first breeze of spring.  
The only thing that lightened their mood was knowing how two sheets of crumpled paper with quickly written pledges were safely hidden between two stones right next to the shrine high up in the mountains.

 

_One year._

_It was a year of laughter, crowds, strangers, of fear and doubt,  
of new things to learn and learning how the world never stopped changing,  
of change, pounding and blood rushing,  
of uneasy heartthrobs, telling him more than he could understand,  
it was the year everything had changed and everything turned over to something Haruka wasn’t sure it was better or worse than before,  
but something he knew he needed in his life,  
preparing him for something that might turn into reality one day,  
offering him a path he never dared to hope for.  
  
But he tried to, he tried to hope-  
he tried to be ready for what may come.  
  
One year later and Rin was gone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: yes, there is actually plot in this.  
> also a timeskip.
> 
> I got permission to use this wonderful headcanon about the mahou schoolgrounds, thank you very much for letting me use it in my fic <3  
> http://jingu-tenno.tumblr.com/post/104423652345/mahotokoro-school-grounds-mahotokoro-lies


End file.
